Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 10:31:49 +0500
From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com
Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 02/26/96
AIDS Daily Summary
February 26, 1996
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public
service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement
by the CDC, the CDC Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction
of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
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"Johnson's Powerful Message Is Delivered Off the Court"
"Planned Health Cuts Causing Winces"
"Scots Heterosexual HIV Cases Outnumber Homosexual"
"Forum on New AIDS Drugs to Link Phila., Other Cities"
"Bay State Inmate Shifted to Texas Is Dead of AIDS"
"Obituaries: Anti-AIDS Activist George Williams"
"Obituaries: Pathologist, author of AIDS Study"
"The Experience of Respiratory Isolation for HIV-Infected Persons
with Tuberculosis"
"Prevalence of HIV Infection Among Israel's Ethiopian Immigrants"
"Trials By Fire"
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"Johnson's Powerful Message Is Delivered Off the Court"
New York Times (02/26/96) P. C5; Araton, Harvey
New York Times sports columnist Harvey Araton describes
basketball star Magic Johnson as a hero, despite the mistakes he
made in talking about HIV and AIDS. Araton writes that Johnson
is a hero because he remained committed to basketball despite the
criticism he faced. He also points out, however, that Johnson
did sometimes send out the wrong message about AIDS, like calling
attention to the women he attracted, as if he and other men do
not have a choice about who they associate with, and saying he
would overcome the disease. Still, the fact that Johnson spoke
out at all, Araton says, is commendable.
"Planned Health Cuts Causing Winces"
Philadelphia Inquirer (02/24/96) P. B1; McCullough, Marie
People concerned with welfare rights, AIDS, and health care
criticized on Friday Pennsylvania Gov. Ridge's proposed cuts in
health and welfare at a public hearing, held by the Departments
of Aging, Health, and Public Welfare. The groups said the
proposed cuts--to eliminate Medicaid health insurance for about
157,000 residents, cut programs for people with AIDS, handicapped
children, and single parents--would cost the state more than they
would save. Furthermore, AIDS activists said the plan to cut a
special pharmaceutical program for people with HIV would go
against the evidence that drug therapy should begin as soon as
possible. Cutting programs "represents ignorance or darkness of
heart," said ACT UP's Steven Parmer. State officials listened to
the arguments, but said that stagnant state revenues, increasing
medical costs, decreasing federal aid, and an aging population
were forcing the cuts.
"Scots Heterosexual HIV Cases Outnumber Homosexual"
Reuters (02/23/96)
More people in Scotland have now been infected with HIV through
heterosexual contact than through homosexual contact, a report by
the Scottish Center for Infection says. David Goldberg, the
center's deputy director, noted that transmissions among
injection drug users has decreased and the rate of infection
among gay men remains stable. In addition, an estimated 570
people in Scotland have been infected through heterosexual
contact compared with 550 through homosexual contact. Some 2,000
individuals are infected with HIV, nearly half of which are in
the Edinburgh area, Goldberg said. AIDS workers said that many
cases in the city were among needle-sharing drug-users, and that
the increase in heterosexual transmissions could be largely due
to female addicts who have turned to prostitution.
"Forum on New AIDS Drugs to Link Phila., Other Cities"
Philadelphia Inquirer (02/24/96) P. B2
Philadelphia was one of 10 cities to participate in an
interactive forum on protease inhibitors, a new class of AIDS
drugs. The forum--which linked the cities by satellite
communication--was sponsored by Hoffman-La Roche, the maker of
one of the new drugs, and local AIDS organizations.
"Bay State Inmate Shifted to Texas Is Dead of AIDS"
Boston Globe (02/23/96) P. 20
One of 229 prisoners moved from Massachusetts to a Texas prison
has died of AIDS. Adell Sullivan was serving a 12-year sentence
when he died, 18 days after being admitted to Parkland Memorial
Hospital near Dallas. Before being transferred, all the
prisoners had been screened for medical problems, but Sullivan's
medical records showed no mention of AIDS. Testing for HIV in
Massachusetts prisons is not required, and inmates are not
required to disclose any medical problems. Sullivan apparently
developed symptoms after he and the other prisoners were
transferred to the Dallas jail.
"Obituaries: Anti-AIDS Activist George Williams"
Chicago Tribune (02/23/96) P. 3-11
George Williams, an AIDS-prevention activist who founded the
Chicago Recovery Alliance, an HIV-prevention agency for drug
users, died Feb. 15 at age 55. Since its launch in 1992, the
Chicago Recovery Alliance has expanded to 15 sites and has been
involved in the exchange of 30,000 needles. Williams was known
for hugging drug users as he tried to encourage them to exchange
their needles and use condoms. He started his activist work in
the mid-1980s in San Francisco, where he was a community health
outreach worker in the first program to educate drug users about
AIDS.
"Obituaries: Pathologist, author of AIDS Study"
Chicago Tribune (02/23/96) P. 3-11; Heise, Kenan
Dr. Robin Miller-Catchpole, a pathologist who was the associate
director of the microbiology laboratories at Evanston Hospital
and an associate professor at Northwestern University Medical
School, died Saturday of breast cancer. In the late 1980s, Dr.
Miller-Catchpole initiated the "Chicago AIDS Autopsy Study,"
which analyzed opportunistic infections and their impact on
selected organ systems, compared with national data.
"The Experience of Respiratory Isolation for HIV-Infected Persons
with Tuberculosis"
Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (01/96-02/96)
Vol.7, No.1, P. 29; Kelly-Rossini, Liza; Perlman, David C.;
Mason, Diana J.
A resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) cases has occurred in New York
City, where about 40 percent of TB cases occur in HIV-infected
individuals. In hospitals, patients who have TB or suspected of
having TB are placed in respiratory isolation until they are no
longer infectious. In this study, 18 patients with HIV who were
isolated for TB were questioned about the isolation and how they
dealt with it. A Profile of Mood States (POMS) was also used to
describe six affective states or moods: tension, depression,
anger, vigor, fatigue, and confusion. The survey revealed that
patients either felt lonely or appreciated the time alone. Other
complaints included feeling trapped, not having interaction with
others, boredom, and disruption of sleeping and eating patterns.
Many were also depressed about their future. The patients said
they felt stigmatized by the isolation, and abandoned by the
hospital staff. Participants felt they did not receive enough
information about their condition and their isolation, and coped
with the situation by relying on religion, personal strength,
survival strategies developed during incarceration, and family.
To improve the isolation, the patients suggested increasing human
contact, adding diversions, and improving environmental hygiene.
"Prevalence of HIV Infection Among Israel's Ethiopian Immigrants"
Lancet (02/10/96) Vol.347, No.8998, P. 389; Fishman, Rachelle
H.B.
The recent reports of an Israeli blood bank discarding most blood
donations from Ethiopians set off demonstrations by Ethiopians
claiming racial discrimination. Now Dr. Shlomo Ma'ayan, director
of the AIDS Clinic at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Hospital in
Jerusalem, has analyzed the data for blood donations received.
He says that since 1991, tests show that the rate of HIV
infection among Ethiopian immigrant blood donors is 80 times
higher than the rate in the rest of the population. Ma'ayan
reasons that the rate of false negatives--when donors have not
been infected long enough to show HIV antibodies--would be the
same. Since the early 1980s, 48 units of blood donated in Israel
have been found to test positive for HIV. Three of those 48 came
from Ethiopian immigrants. Of the 125,000 Israelis who
identified themselves as at risk and who volunteered for testing
since 1986, 1,380 have tested positive. All 20,000 of the
Ethiopian immigrants who have arrived in Israel since 1991 have
been tested for HIV and the hepatitis B virus. About 330 had HIV
and another 210 seroconverted subsequently and were detected
during voluntary testing. These figures account for
approximately 39 percent of the total number of recorded HIV
cases in Israel.
"Trials By Fire"
POZ (02/96-03/96) No. 12, P. 56; Williams, Scott
Community-based drug studies, especially for natural treatments,
are slowly gaining popularity in the medical community. An
informal community-based trial--like the one David Stokes is
heading in San Francisco for SPV-30, an extract from the boxwood
tree--could garner enough attention to lead to a larger, more
formal study. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National
Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases says a drug that
shows promise in a community trial may be considered for a
government study. Donald Abrams, assistant director of AIDS
services at San Francisco General Hospital, is working with
others from the San Francisco Community Consortium and with
biotechnology firm Chiron to assess the effectiveness of
alternative therapies used in the community. Activist Kiyoshi
Kuromiya says that the government is not open to trials for
treatments that are not profitable. The government's large
clinical trial networks "are industry-driven rather than
community-driven," he says. The AIDS Research Alliance (ARA) in
Los Angeles serves as a bridge between community trials and
government research. It collaborates with government researchers
and drug companies, but advocates AIDS research that is not
bogged down in bureaucracy or driven by profitability.